---
title: Attributes and labels
description: In OpenTelemetry, an attribute is a key-value pair. Attributes are similar to labels in that they add metadata to transactions, spans, and other entities...
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3544/solutions/observability/apm/opentelemetry/attributes
products:
  - APM
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless
  - Elastic Observability
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available
  - Elastic Stack: Generally available
---

# Attributes and labels
In OpenTelemetry, an attribute is a key-value pair. Attributes are similar to [labels](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3544/solutions/observability/apm/metadata#apm-data-model-labels) in that they add metadata to transactions, spans, and other entities.
Resource attributes are a type of attribute that contains information about the entities that produce telemetry. Resource attributes map to Elastic Common Schema (ECS) fields like `service.*`, `cloud.*`, `process.*`, and so on. These fields describe the service and its environment.
For example, Elastic APM maps the OpenTelemetry `deployment.environment` field to the ECS `service.environment` field on ingestion.
<note>
  The `deployment.environment` attribute populates the environment selector in the Kibana APM Service Map. Without it, services appear under an "unset" environment, meaning you can't distinguish between production, staging, or other environments using the selector. Set this attribute at the Collector level using the `resource` processor so it applies consistently to all telemetry from your services.
</note>


## Setting resource attributes

You can set resource attributes through environment variables or by editing the configuration of the resource processor of the OpenTelemetry Collector.

### OpenTelemetry agent

Use the `OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES` environment variable to pass resource attributes at process invocation. For example:
```bash
export OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES=deployment.environment=production
```


### Elastic Distribution of OpenTelemetry Collector (EDOT Collector)

Use the [resource processor](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/tree/main/processor/resourceprocessor) to set or apply changes to resource attributes when using the EDOT Collector.
```yaml
...
processors:
  resource:
    attributes:
    - key: deployment.environment
      action: insert
      value: production
...
```


## Handling of unmapped attributes

When sending telemetry to Elastic APM, only a subset of OpenTelemetry attributes are directly mapped to Elastic APM document fields, such as ECS fields. If an attribute doesn't have a predefined mapping, the system stores it under `labels.*`, with dots replaced by underscores.
Unmapped resource attributes are treated as global labels in Elastic APM, meaning they apply to all telemetry data from the resource. In contrast, unmapped record-level attributes, such as those specific to a log record, span, or data point, are stored as normal labels associated only with that specific record.
For example, if an OpenTelemetry resource contains:
```json
{
  "service.name": "user-service",
  "deployment.environment": "production",
  "otel.library.name": "my-lib",
  "custom.attribute.with.dots": "value"
}
```

Elastic APM stores the following:
```json
{
  "service.name": "user-service",
  "service.environment": "production",
  "labels": {
    "otel_library_name": "my-lib",
    "custom_attribute_with_dots": "value"
  }
}
```


## Scope attributes translation

Scope attributes are translated as follows:

| OpenTelemetry attribute | Elastic APM field         |
|-------------------------|---------------------------|
| scope.name              | service.framework.name    |
| scope.version           | service.framework.version |

Unmapped scope attributes are ignored.